And 16-year-old Laura Kirkland, who thought dyslexia would always hold her back.

“Before I hated reading out loud, and now it's so much easier to get in there and read,” she says.

It's true that Betty Lewing considers it critical that students learn to read, but sometimes, she says, it's even more important that they know there's someone on the other end of the line. Many of her students come from troubled homes.

“My phone rings throughout the night, frequently, and it's normally kids that are in a situation where they need help,” she says.

Lewing has literally rescued students at two in the morning. Others, like Texas A&M running back Jorvorski Lane, a former student, just needed encouragement.

“She'll say, ‘Jorvorski,’ and I'll look, and she says, ‘You know what? I love you,’ and I would be like, man,” says Jorvorski.

Newsworthy? Maybe not. But Betty Lewing's passion for her kids is anything but ordinary.